help with council property please!

oldMcDonald

bettersoon wrote: »

I don't want my mum to give up her flat if my partner can't be a council tennant because he owns a property but until we sell theres not much we can do. She said she'll move back in permanently with my Dad (even though they hate each other) if needs be.

argghhhh I really don't want to be cheating the system as this is what it seems like! what will be best? should i go see an housing officer and see if they can help us?

If you are not a joint tennant then she cannot move in with your dad and leave you to take over the lease.

If she is getting any help such as HB/Council Tax benefit and not living there then she must stop claiming it.

If the council do not know that she is no longer living there then do not see a housing officer until this is all sorted out.

TBH, I REALLY think you need to visit the CAB. You must be sure that everything that you are doing is ok and within your / your mums lease before you do anything.

oldMcDonald

bettersoon wrote: »

sorry, i ignored your questions completely! I don't think i am a tenant. All i know is they know i am living here and charging me rent?

Is your name on the tennancy agreement? If not then you are contributing as an adult with an income.

barnaby-bear

bettersoon wrote: »

As its almost impossible to get a bigger place through the council, I thought the homebuy thing might be an option. I dont want to be breaking laws and have been unsettled since we moved in here but what other choice do we have? we're not renting privately because we wont have enough once the tenants are gone.

You need a deposit for homebuy, so there must be money from the house sale to pay rental upfront costs. If you are on a low income HB will pay part of the rent. The housing list has priorities and this sounds like you are using your mum's tenancy to skip the list, there are plenty of young couples with kids without equity in a house also wanting council housing and by virtue of having a mother already in council housing you're trying to jump ahead of them on the list. It would be fairer to all concerned if your partner just put you down on the regular list.

oldMcDonald

On another thread you say that you partner gets £25k per year, which is an *average* household income, and here you say he is renting out his house and wants to sell it to pay off debts.

If your tennant is out in August, is there really no way you can move back into his house and sort out the debts in other ways, possibly through CAB or one of the charities that help and advise in such a siuation (I think there is one called CCS or something similar?)

Maybe it would be helpful to post over on the debt-free wannabe board LINK HERE
Get over there and post a statement of affairs - your income for you and him and your outgoings, including debts - you have a reasonable income and you should be able to get some advice over there as to how you can make arrangements with lenders to pay back your debts.

To be honest, I don't think that the way you are looking at getting out of this situation is the best way to go about it.

bettersoon

Our mortgage contract ends december and we want to get rid of the house by then. unless the lenders give us a good deal for just a year. ..

How do do you put your name down on the regular list? I have no intentions of trying to jump the queue using my mums name!

oldMcDonald

To get your name down on the housing list you must go into the council and ask for an application form. As a home-owner it would be highly unlikely that they will accept your partner onto the waiting list.

As a single adult with 1 child, one on the way, and your not being homeless, would lead to your allocated points being very small. Your housing needs are not priority and the council would expect you to rent privately.

As an example, I have a friend who was made homeless 3 years ago, her and her partner are privately renting a one bedroom flat and have 2 kids aged 3 and 5 (one boy, one girl), the kids get the bedroom and the adults sleep on a bed setee in the living room. They are still not considered a priority.

You really should look at every option possible with regards to keeping the house - if you sell it and have a bad credit file then you may be 'jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire', so to speak.

bettersoon

Thank you all for advice! Its not as easy as i thought it'll be and it seems we will have no choice but to rent privately if the house does sell...I am worreid it will go into negative equity..? if we keep it for any longer and really dont know where we stand with the lenders come december.

Emmy_L

I'm still rather confused...
with what I have read,do you and your partner both own houses???
If you own,why on earth are you in your mums one bedroomed flat?
If she is not living there,she is breaking her tenency agreement with the council (which says that the flat should be her main residence) and she is also committing fraud (her housing benefit,but she isn't there,and she will have had to tell the benefits agency if other people have moved in)
I agree with oldmcdonald that you should keep your house any way possible (and move back in there!!!) and use the agencies they listed to get a s much help and advice as possible
I really hope things work out for you,I know how stressful it is to have to deal with BIG issues when you are pregnant!

barnaby-bear

bettersoon wrote: »

And my mum doesnt pay anything as she is old.

All council tenants have to pay rent. If they are old and hence low income they will be entitled to help to pay that rent even if it's fictional money, suggests she's doing something very dodgy - claiming the rent on a main residence she doesn't live at while someone else lives there... the flat was assigned on her housing need.

silvercar

If you sell the house before you mortgage deal ends you will have to pay early redemption charges, these are usually anything between1 and 4 per cent of the mortgage. Ckeck this out before you decide to proceed with the sale.